Fatum
by ars-magica
Summary: Alice Fortescue is a very regular witch. She obsesses over boys. She loves shoes. And school stresses her out more than it really should. But during her sixth year at Hogwarts, things begin to change. Alongside her best friend Lily Evans, Alice has to tackle some new experiences in her life, and they may change her for the worst or the better. *ALICE AND FRANK LONGBOTTOM FIC*
1. Alice, a very average girl

***None of the characters in the following story are owned by myself. This world and characters all belong to the amazing mind of JK Rowling. I am merely turning these characters into my own little puppets, and using them as I please. The following story will take place in the Marauders Era, and no, it's not a Jily fic. This is a story of, what I think is, the most underrated couple in the Harry Potter fandom. Alice and Frank Longbottom. This will take place in their seventh year, in Alice's point of view. This story does not follow any of the original book storylines. As it is not stated anywhere when Frank and Alice attended Hogwarts, I am putting them into the same year as the Marauders. Please enjoy, and give me feedback ****J***

Oh shit.

Not again. I couldn't be here _again._

The room was white, like always. Why was it always white? Why not yellow? That would make me a lot happier.

My mother was sitting on the chair in the corner. She had made the corner chair her special place since we had started coming here. My father, he was most likely getting coffee, hopefully he would know to get me a coffee as well. "Mum?" I choked out the word, sitting up and propping myself against the headrest.

"Oh! Alice you're awake." She hopped off her chair and moved to kneel beside my bed. She looked worried, then again, she always looked worried. "How are you feeling? The doctors said you'd be fine, but you haven't been taking your medicine. Alice, why haven't you been taking your medicine?" Her tone was accusatory, but I knew she wouldn't actually be angry with me. She never was.

"The medicine tastes gross mum. I hate taking it, it makes me feel weak, and everything tastes funny when I take it."

At that exact moment my father walked in, his face brightened when he saw I was awake. Merlin, I loved my dad. He was such a negative person, but he never failed to be happy around me. "Sleeping beauty has arisen! I brought you coffee." He pulled my mother's chair over to the side of my bed and handed me the steaming mug.

I let a smile spread across my face as I took the mug graciously and sipped on the coffee slowly. Hot and black, exactly how I liked it. Father knew how to cheer me up. "Well thank you dearest father. I do love you so." I tilted my head and smiled innocently over at him.

"Charles! She shouldn't be drinking so much caffeine! You know it's not good for her, especially in this condition." Mother threw her hands into the air, glaring daggers at my dad. She was the responsible one in the family, my father and I acted like children. Children that liked to drink coffee.

"Mum, it is fine. I drink coffee all the time, it doesn't make my condition any different! Nothing makes it different. It stays the exact same, with a couple bad days, like today." I gestured around the room. "Wait, are we at the muggle hospital or St. Mungo's? They all look the same inside the rooms."

"Mungo's sweetie. And it hasn't been a bad day, you've been here for three days now." Father told me, patting my arm.

I sat up quickly. Three days?

"Three bloody days? But that means, tomorrow is September 1st. I need to go to Diagon Alley!" I exclaimed. I still needed to shop for new clothes, supplies, and oh gosh I needed to buy shoes. Shoes were always good.

"Don't worry. The healer told us you could leave as soon as you woke up. Want to get going then?" Mother asked politely, laying her hand on my shoulder. I nodded quickly, setting my mug on the side table and jumping off the too small bed.

"Let's get out of here."

Oh, the shoes.

I had bought so many new shoes. They were all beautiful.

I was standing on Platform 9 ¾, having already said goodbye to my loving parents back home. They both had to get back to work today, and I tried to avoid going to any public with her parents. My mother had packed me down with as much medicine as she could possibly find, and Father had nearly filled a duffel bag full of books for myself, so I wouldn't get bored.

I was grateful for books, but they didn't compare to the shoes of course.

With students and parents running every which way, trying to collect their belongings, get on the train, and say their final goodbyes, it was a miracle that I spotted that familiar head of hair.

Out of the crowd came a smiling red head, skipping her way over to me and nearly taking out a first year trying to usher his owl into its cage.

"Alice!" Lily smiled and threw her arms around my small frame.

I was ridiculously small compared to most of my year. 5'3, with such a small body that many had asked her if she was 'anorexic-or something.' It wasn't my fault I was tiny, I ate more than the average witch, it's just because of the whole, constantly sick dilemma that the fat didn't seem to stay on.

"Lils, I missed you so much." My words were muffled by Lily's hair in my face. I never got to see her during the summer. She was always at home with her muggle family, and I spent my summers either at our lake house, or St. Mungo's.

"Look! Look at this!" Lily squealed, holding up some odd sort of-wait. That was the Head Girl badge.

"Lily! You're head girl? Oh I knew you would get it!" I gave her yet another hug. It was obvious Lily would get Head Girl. She's absolutely brilliant and everyone just adores her.

After that we went through the standard reunion talk. With the, I missed you mores, your hair looks so good, and oh Merlin Alice your shoes, oh Merlin Lily your top! It was the same every year, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Lily had been my closest friend since second year when I had been pushed down a staircase by some wanker of a Slytherin and Lily had given the boy a black eye. Lily had become somewhat of a protector over me, and in turn I made sure Lily didn't hide out in her room at all times, being unsociable.

After we were done with catching up, I gathered up my bags and found my cat Circe. The stupid cat had been stalking up behind a poor, helpless toad. She was a small little ball of fur and evil. Setting everything aboard the train we went to find an empty compartment.

So many people.

Were there no empty compartments? Did the amount of students triple over the summer?

Oh…there's one.

The rest of our dull, and dreary train ride was spent sharing every story we could possibly think of that happened over the summer.

Lily had spent her summer at home, trying to get on Petunia's good side-to no avail.

"It's impossible. She's so narrow-minded and judgemental. There's nothing wrong with me. Maybe there's something wrong with her." Lily ranted on, chewing on a strand of hair.

I nodded along, knowing it would be nearly impossible to get a word in. Lily didn't stop jabbering on about the dreadful Petunia until I happened to blurt out my little stay at St. Mungo's.

"Oh no. Alice is it getting worse? Please tell me it's not getting worse." Lily had reached across the compartment and set both her hands on my knees. Her expression was nearly as worried as my mother's always was.

"It's fine Lils. Besides, there are some very attractive young Healers down at that place." I raised one of my eyebrows suggestively.

It was true. They were gorgeous.

I'd love to get a piece of them.

"Oh please Alice. We both know you only have eyes for one person, and one person only."

"I do not know who you are referring to." I pulled my knees up into my chest and looked at the floor. I knew exactly what Lily meant. The boy I absolutely loved. He was my soul mate, and I never wanted anyone else but him. I mean, I had almost never spoken to the boy, but that was just a minor detail.

"Yes you do! Alice we both know you're absolutely infatuated with Sirius. He doesn't even give you the time of day." Lily hated the idea of me liking Sirius Black. In her mind he was a player, and would only end up breaking my heart. I told her to bugger off every time she brought it up.

Sirius was incredibly handsome, witty, and dangerous. He was constantly getting into trouble along with his little band of friends. But it worked out, I could have Sirius, and maybe Lily would finally get off her high horse and realize James and her were meant to be.

I was constantly trying to set those two up, but Lily wouldn't have it.

Poor James.

"Lily, leave it alone. Sirius and I are just in a very complicated relationship at the moment. We have some kinks to work out, that's all." I was in complete denial.

"Fine. We're almost there, get your robes on."

Food.

Food was such a good invention.

I'd like to personally thank the creator of food, which might have been the dinosaurs, or the first micro-organisms. I wasn't sure exactly. I wasn't exactly a science prodigy, or any sort of scientist for that matter. To be honest I wasn't clear on most scientific concepts. Wait-am I babbling in my head again?

After another dull sorting ceremony, and a long speech from Dumbledore himself the food appeared on the table. I piled my plate with as much food as I could, as Hogwarts meals were so much better than at home meals.

I was shoving a fork full of potatoes into my mouth when I noticed him sitting across from me and a couple seats down.

Oh gosh he looked absolutely beautiful.

His head turned towards me slowly and he gave me a smile.

Oh Merlin…was he smiling at me? What was I meant to do in this situation?

I smiled back and Sirius' smile quickly turned into a loud laugh. I realized after a second that my mouth was still full of potatoes. I was such an absolute idiot. He was probably laughing at me. It was either:

A) He saw I had my gob full of potatoes and realized what a pathetic fool I am.

OR

B) James or Remus had told a joke and Sirius found it absolutely hysterical.

I was hoping for the latter, but with my luck it was the former. I hid my face, as it was burning red, and turned to talk to Lily.

"Is he looking at me?" I whispered to her, moving my eyes in the general direction of Sirius so it wasn't noticeable to anyone but Lily. I liked to try and be stealthy, but it usually didn't work out so well. In my mind, because of my size, it was easy to be inconspicuous. Then again, I was already inconspicuous without trying to be.

Most people did not notice me, unless it was to comment on my size. They were too busy staring at Lily.

Lovely Lily.

With her gorgeous red hair, stunning green eyes and loveable personality, it was hard not to love Lily.

Of course, Lily didn't see it. She always tried to convince me that _I _was the one everyone was jealous of. She was crazy.

My hair was average, it wasn't an interesting color like Lily's, or a sexy blonde. It was about shoulder length, mousy brown hair. I couldn't do much with it. It didn't go into a bun, and all ponytails looked truly ridiculous on me. So it stayed down, sometimes I threw in a clip, just to shake things up.

And then there were my eyes. Not blue, or green, or even hazel. They were brown. Just plain brown, nothing special about them. My mum always told me that my eyes were the color of melted chocolate, but that's just her being a mom. My eyes were the color of poop and no one could tell me otherwise.

So in all, I was average. Hell, I might have even been below average but I wasn't sure. I mean…I had nice skin. That counted for something. And good fashion sense…

The first night back at Hogwarts was always the same. Everyone was so happy to be back together that we hardly got any sleep. It was a Saturday, so it wasn't like we had classes the next day. But seriously, I need my beauty sleep. I enjoy sleep, it's a good thing. It keeps you healthy.

"Come on Alice, stop being such a grouch and talk with us!" My other close friend Livia whined. Livia and Charlotte were two other Gryffindor 7th years. The interesting thing about Livia and Charlotte (We liked to call her Lottie), was that they were identical twins. Well, they would have been if Lottie hadn't dyed her hair pitch black two years ago. It was the only way anyone could tell them apart, unless you knew them well enough to see the way they act.

Lottie was the more artistic and pessimistic of the twins. She liked to keep to herself, and was really only talkative when around our small group of friends. Livia was very girly, loud and fairly obnoxious. She was absolutely boy-crazy and never stopped talking, even in her sleep she still muttered random words. They were the human embodiments of extroversion and introversion.

The only other girls in our year were Mary and Suzanne, but we didn't talk to them. Suzanna was a stuck-up bitch. No…that was unfair of me. She might be a very nice stuck-up bitch, I just didn't give her the time of day, as she was also in love with Sirius. Little did she know, we were madly in love with each other. It would happen. I'm not crazy. At least… not all the time.

"I'm not being a grouch. I'm tired and want to go to bed." I complained, pulling the blankets over my head.

"If you stay up we can discuss you and your boyfriend." Lily said in a sing-song voice. She was clearly trying to draw me in with Sirius and his bloody fine features.

I let out a loud sigh, just to show them how ridiculous I found them all, and hopped onto Livia's bed where they were having their little gossip session. These gossip sessions were at least a weekly occurrence, as we only had a few classes together, and would need to catch up.

The four of us were inseparable when we were together. It had been that way for years now.

Lily was the smart one. She kept us all in check. Lottie was the protector, though Lily could punch people out if need be. Lottie liked to make sure no one was messing with us. Livia was the flirt. She always had a boy on each arm, which was fair enough. She was drop-dead gorgeous with her blonde curls and piercing blue eyes. Which made Lottie as gorgeous as well, people just tended to not notice her. I guess that left me, Alice. What was I? I suppose I was the kind one. Lily and Lottie were both socially awkward. Livia was, to be fair, sort of a bitch. She got what and who she wanted no matter what. If anyone needed to talk to one of the girls, it usually happened through me. I was the messenger, I guess you could say.

The girls were always very protective over me, however. I was their Little Alice, and once while waiting on the platform they had promised my parents to watch out for me, and make sure I was keeping myself healthy. If I got so much as a headache they would hover over me like a swarm of bees until I assured them I was all right.

That's how it always had been.

I suspected that's how it always would be.

"Ok good, we got you up! So, I noticed a certain someone watching you." Livia said with a smile.

My face turned red, like it always did. "He was only looking because my mouth was full of potatoes like the moronic loser I am."

This caused a ripple of laughter throughout the dorm. They found my pain amusing. What good friends they were, I might just have to replace them. I could put down an ad in the paper:

_WANTED_

_New friends; mine are half-witted and inconsiderate of my inner most feelings._

_Must be able to gossip, share clothes, and make a good cup of coffee._

_Not for yourself._

_All coffee made must come to me._

_I will make you pie in return._

Yup. They'd see that ad and realize that they have wronged me. *Cue evil laugh* they won't know what hit them.

"You know who's looking absolutely delicious this year?" Livia asked as she licked her lips. What was she planning on doing to the poor soul? Eating him? "That Frank Longbottom boy. I mean, he's in our year, and in Gryffindor, but I haven't noticed him before. He's sort of a badass. Might be more of your type Lottie."

I knew who Liv was referring to of course, but I too hadn't noticed him much. I knew Frank was more so of a loner. Attractive in a different sort of way, he spent most of his time either in detention or out on the grounds with a smoke in his mouth-which is why he constantly had detention.

"Oh Liv, leave the poor boy alone. He doesn't want you throwing yourself all over him." Lottie said with a sigh, used to her sister's promiscuous ways.

"You're ridiculous Lottie. Of course he does. Plus, I know of that Longbottom's ways. He has a bit of a rep with the ladies."

Livia and Lottie sat there bickering for a while, and I took it as my way of escape. I yawned loudly, "Well, I'm absolutely worn out. Good night."

As they continued to argue, they didn't notice me sneaking away, and Lily didn't try and stop me, as she was sneaking back to her bed as well.

Lily's bed was right across from mine, and I mouthed a "Good night," to her before drawing the curtains shut and falling into a deep sleep.

I believe in many things.

I believe that there are an infinite number of worlds, and that we are not the only living beings out there. I believe in divination, and that there are people with the ability to see into the future. I believe that our dreadful librarian Madam Pince may one day find true love and decide to no longer despise me, as love conquers all…Or something along those lines. (She truly does despise me. And I've done nothing wrong, she believes I spend too much time in her library, messing up the books, once she caught me eating with a book in hand. Nearly lost her marbles that time.)

But the one thing I _do not_ and _never will_ believe in, is the idea that waking up at 6:30 in the morning, and then proceeding to use your brain for the rest of the day is a well thought out idea. It's completely barbaric.

How does this school expect me to be able to function on such a little amount of sleep? It would be far more reasonable if we slept until at least 10 and then went to class. At least then I would be able to focus on whatever the professor is attempting to teach us sleep deprived students.

The first week of classes passed by in a groggy blur.

My schedule for sixth year was packed, I only had two free periods in a week, one on Wednesdays and one on Fridays. It gave me extra time to finish up homework and study. Which I needed an incredible amount.

Five essays already in a week? So not only were they trying to squeeze all the energy out of us with this ridiculous time schedule, but now they wanted to get rid of the rest of our sanity? To be fair, there wasn't much left. I think I ended up on the crazy train around year three.

The only upside of classes so far this year was Sirius was in five of my classes. DADA, Charms, Astronomy, Potions and Transfiguration. Now that I think about it, why was him being in my potions class a good thing? I would only embarrass myself. I only needed that class because I wanted to become an Auror one day.

But still, being able to nonchalantly stare at his beautiful head of hair more than once a day made my life worth living.

It was the first Saturday at Hogwarts and Lily and I were curled up in the common room studying Transfiguration. I had on a large woolen sweater that my mom had knitted me for Christmas last year. It still smelt like home so I tried to wear it as often as possible. Lily had once told me it made my eyes look lighter, so of course I had to wear it.

"This is ridiculous! How am I supposed to remember every single method to improve non-verbal spells?" Lily exclaimed, letting herself flop back onto a large red chair.

I was sitting in front of the fire place and had to awkwardly turn to see if Lily had attempted to kill herself yet. "It's only because you're rubbish at Transfiguration." I said with a smirk, it was one of the few subjects I was actually better than Lily at.

"If it was potions I would have this down already, you know that." Lily kept complaining. I knew she hated the subject, but other than Herbology it was the one thing I was skilled at.

"Stop complaining. He already offered to tutor you, but you turned him down." The 'he' I was referring to was none other than James Potter, who was absolutely, 100% in love with Lily. It was so blatantly obvious to everyone _but _Lily.

"I turned him down because he is an irresponsible twat that only wants to get into my pants." Lily turned her nose up like she always did when the topic was about James.

She was ridiculous, I knew she liked him back.

Lily and James.

It just seemed right.

At that exact moment I heard someone plop themselves down into the other chair. "Who wants to get into whose pants?" A low voice asked with a laugh.

Oh Merlin. It was him.

I spun around quickly. Yep. It was Sirius.

"Oh um, James wants to get into Lily's pants." The words came flowing out. Why didn't I have a filter? WHERE WAS MY FILTER? Bloody hell he looked good.

Lily shot me a look as if to say, "What the fuck is wrong with you, you were supposed to make something up!" I sent her a look back to tell her I had no idea what was wrong.

Sirius laughed again, his laugh was absolutely beautiful. I could fall asleep listening to it. Wait- was that weird?

"Hey now, James isn't like that. He doesn't get into girls pants." Sirius always had been defensive over his friends, especially James. Just another reason I absolutely adored him.

"Does he get into guys pants?" I blurted out, stammering on my words. Clearly Sirius didn't notice how shaky I was though, or the fact that I hadn't been trying to joke. The words just wouldn't stop. He laughed again and shot me a wink. He just winked at me. Hell.

"No love, James is more of a relationship type. If you needed someone to get into your pants, it's me you come to." He rose his eyebrows suggestively, and even though I knew he was only being his regular, flirtatious, playful self, I had to turn around to gather my thoughts.

"You're disgusting Black." Lily shot back, and even with my back turned I knew she was sneering at him. I could recognize the tone of voice.

"Oh come off it, I'm only joking. Little Alice knows I'm joking." I felt his foot poke my back and I froze again, this was the most he had interacted with me since that time we were partners in potions and I had spilt the potion on his shoe, sending him to the Hospital Wing.

"She doesn't like to be called Little Alice." I heard Lily slap Sirius' arm. She was so much better with guys than I was. Guys liked Lily, they always had. I was the opposite. They ignored me, it was like I was invisible to them.

I needed to get out of there before my word vomit came back and threatened to unleash all my inner most secrets. "Well, this has been lovely, I'm going to the library." I informed Lily, just so she would know where to find me in case something happened. I liked to think Lily found my company absolutely thrilling and that I made her life a bit better. I nodded at Sirius before gathering my books and hurrying out of the common room.

I got to the library without any more embarrassments and sent a smile at Madam Pince as I walked in. Pince rolled her eyes at me, clearly she had just missed me too much over the summer break.

I took my books to my special little corner and contemplated my first official moment with my future husband. Our children would be beautiful. Well, so long as they looked exactly like him.

There would be many more of these moments in the near future, I could see it now.

But first, I needed to be able to finish my essays.


	2. Life becomes a bit more stimulating

***None of the characters in the following story are owned by myself. This world and characters all belong to the amazing mind of JK Rowling. I am merely turning these characters into my own little puppets, and using them as I please. Thank you to all who read the first chapter, it would be lovely to get a bit of feedback. :)***

I've come to the conclusion that I am a very boring person.

Let's look at what the past _two _weeks of school had been like for me:

1) I wake up, get dressed in my horribly unfashionable uniform. Seriously, these sweaters itch.

2) I walk down to the Great Hall, usually with Lottie as Lily and Livia are too happy in the mornings. (We need to get better nicknames for those three. Way too many L's. I can't keep up.)

3) I drink at least two cups of coffee, depending on the morning sometimes more.

4) I eat two waffles, precisely two. No more, no less. It would throw off my entire process.

5) I go to morning classes and try not to fall asleep.

6) I sit with the girls at lunch, sometimes Livia isn't there as she's off with whatever 'boy toy' she has for that day.

7) I go to afternoon classes.

8) After class I go either to the common room or library (whichever is less busy) and work on homework (aka take a nap).

9) I eat supper.

10) I go back to the common room, talk with whichever of the girls are there, and then proceed to collapse onto my bed in utter exhaustion.

Clearly I needed to amp up my lifestyle, seeing as the most stimulating part of my day was seeing what the twins would argue about at lunch, and then the same for supper. Today had been what type of pants make your butt look the best at lunch, and if muggle music was better than wizarding music at supper. Lily made a ghastly decision by suggesting overalls during the lunchtime argument. I thought the twins would surely murder her right then and there. They were both holding their forks very firmly.

I had to agree with Lily though.

I love overalls.

I was presently on step 8 of my daily schedule, and it was a library day. The common room had been overflowing with first and second year Gryffindors for some odd reason. I'm pretty sure it had something to do with daring each other to eat odd colored Bertie Bott's beans or something along those lines.

I had been curled up in my favorite spot for who knows how long, on a Thursday night. Shows how downright fascinating of a human being I am. At least it wasn't a Friday or Saturday night. Now _that_ would be embarrassing.

Lily had been so busy this week with her Head Girl duties, that I felt more alone than ever. James was Head Boy, which made it ever so interesting. We all knew those two would get Head Boy and Girl. Well, everyone except those two knew. My hope is that Lily would get off her high horse and maybe just snog James a bit. Then she'd realize they were meant to be.

I was two full sheets of parchment into my potions essay-curse that befuddling class, I will never understand it-when I heard the accustomed shriek of Pince. Considering the fact that I had nothing better to do with my time, I gathered my belongings and hurried over to the source of the noise.

Madam Pince had a hold of Peter Pettigrew's robes, yelling what must have been profanities at him in some odd language. I had to hand it to her, she was good with words, and in many languages.

From the looks of it, Peter had hexed a large pile of books to turn a bile colored green, and it seemed as if the books were literally puking out words. Gosh there were weird hexes in the world.

"No, Madam Pince, honestly it wasn't me! I didn't do it!" Peter was practically on his hands and knees begging for Pince to believe him, which was highly unlikely.

"If it wasn't you then who was it?" She yelled at him, "You seventh years think you run this school! Bloody brats, I ought to have you sent to detention for a month! Defiling books! Pah, what a horrid crime!" Pince reached out and pinched Peter's ear, attempting to get a confession out of him. Ha! Pince pinched Peter. Try saying that ten times fast.

"I swear! I didn't do it! It was…" He froze, looking around for a safety net, or anything to get out of the situation. I had to try hard not to laugh at the desperation on his face. He was a pathetic person honestly. I let out a soft snort and Peter's head whipped towards me.

"It was Alice! Look, she's trying to hide!"

Did he?

_He did._

How could he blame me?! What had I ever done to him?

I was right, he was a truly pathetic human being.

Pince turned quickly and spotted me, "Alice! You'll have detention every Friday this month! Next time I catch you tainting my books, I'll make sure Dumbledore seriously considers expulsion for you and the rest of your delinquent friends."

That settled that. Pince and I were the best of friends. It was officially. She clearly just adored me. But seriously? Detention?!

I stood there with my mouth hanging open, just to show off how brilliant I really was. I had never been one to stand up to teachers or authority figures, so I nodded my head quickly before sending a cold glare in Peter's direction. That would show him.

"You will arrive in Filch's office at exactly 7 o'clock Friday night and you will stay at detention until Mr. Filch deems you have done enough to work off your impudent behaviour. Is that clear?"

I nodded again, what else was I to do? If I told her I hadn't done it, Peter would just deny it again. And to be frank, he was more highly skilled at the whole lying thing. I couldn't lie to save my life, unless it had to do with my medicine. I would do whatever possible to not take that devil juice.

So instead, I gathered my books and turned to leave. I couldn't stay in the library now! Oh gosh, what if I could never go there again? And if I did, what would Pince say? Why didn't I just tell her I didn't do anything?

Honestly, I hadn't the faintest clue why I couldn't muster up the courage to tell that silly old librarian that I was not at fault there, and Peter was only trying to get out of trouble. That would have been a lot easier. So what if Peter disliked me afterwards? I could live with that.

Where was Lily when I needed her?

After returning to the common room I found that Lily was still off doing whatever it was Head Girl's do. Lottie was there however, and so I shared my little adventure in the library with her instead.

"Peter did what?! That little…" I erased the next few words from my memory as they were far too vulgar to ever repeat. "Alice, that isn't right. You need to go back and explain to Madam Pince exactly what happened!"

Lottie was clearly out of her mind. There were three possible scenarios that could play out if I went back now:

1) The most unlikely of the three; Madam Pince realizes that I was only trying to be a good student, apologizes to me for the injustice she has displayed, and makes me a good cup of coffee and biscuits to make up for it.

2) Madam Pince could see my explanation as a sign of weakness, and say that the fact I could tell stand up for myself was pitiful. This scenario would cause my level of humiliation to rise, meaning I would not be able to return to the library. And…

3) The most likely; Madam Pince would think I was a suck-up, simply not wanting to attend detention, causing myself either more detentions, or to be permanently removed from the library.

Knowing my luck, it would be scenario three, and I wasn't risking that.

"No, honestly it's fine Lottie. I'll just go, serve the stupid detention and then this will all be over. Besides, what's the worst that could happen? I'll have to clean a couple books? Maybe dust off a shelf? It'll be fine." I was only trying to convince her, though I had yet to convince myself. The thought of detention was petrifying. I wasn't a rebel student, I was very well behaved. Detention + Alice Fortescue did not mix well.

Lottie shrugged, deciding to let the topic drop.

When I told Lily what had happened I thought she would run down to the common room right then and "teach that rat a lesson", to put it in the words of Lily Evans.

I finally got her to promise she would stay out of the way, and by Friday I had fully convinced Lily that this was all part of my personal growth, and that everyone needed to rebel a little bit in life, or else it would be just too boring.

Friday night came all too quickly. When it came time to go to my detention, Lily had to practically drag me down to Filch's office I was so nervous.

"Don't make me go Lily! I'm an innocent bystander, this is cruel and unusual punishment!" I called out, trying to dig my heels into the ground as Lily pushed me down the hallway.

"You missed your chance Alice! You could have gone and explained the whole thing to Madam Pince, but you didn't, did you?"

We reached Filch's office and Lily pushed me to a standing position beside the door. "You're already late! Get going!"

Lily pushed me into the door, sending it flying open before she ran off down the corridor.

"Look who decided to grace us with her presence." Filch's low and gravelly voice spoke out from across the room. Us? Who was-oh!

Leaning against the far wall by Filch was _him_. It was my love, Sirius. Did he have detention also? Of course he did, he always had detention. I was surprised James or Remus weren't with him. Peter I wasn't surprised, as the wanker was the reason I was here. I was slowly liking the idea of detention more so however.

"Alice? You have detention?" Sirius asked, an incredulous look across his face. "Since when did Alice get into trouble?"

My face turned red, I could feel it. "It's a long story." I mumbled, walking quickly into the room to stand in front of Filch.

"You two brats will be cleaning up the Owlery. From top to bottom I don't want to see a speck of droppings of feathers when you're done. Feel fortunate that I don't hang you by your toes. That was real punishment."

What was up with this guy? I mean, I've done nothing to cause Filch any inconvenience in the last six or so years and he already hated me. He really needed to get himself a girlfriend. Bless the soul of whoever he ends up with.

Filch led us up to the Owlery, making sure that we didn't sneak off on the way there. Once we reached the top, he handed us both a load of unfamiliar looking muggle cleaning supplies. "No magic. You spoiled brats depend on it for everything." And with that he turned and strode off, probably to go stare at the latest issue of "Witchy" magazine.

As soon as the sound of Filch's receding footsteps disappeared Sirius let out a laugh, "Typical Filch. Don't worry, he gives that whole 'hang you by your toes' speech every detention. I would know." He slid down one of the walls, ignoring the bird poop covered floor.

"Um, aren't we supposed to be cleaning?" I wasn't an expert, but I was pretty sure you were supposed to do _something_ other than sitting during a detention.

"Relax, I snuck in my wand. We can clean it quickly right before he comes back. Believe me, I do it all the time. Sit down Fortescue." He patted the seat next to him. Oh gosh, was I supposed to sit beside him?

I decided it would be smarter if I sat down across from him. Don't want to move _too_ fast. I wasn't that easy.

"All right. I'm sitting, what now?"

"Let's talk Al. We never talk. How was your summer?" Sirius shook his hair before running a hand through it. He was like an adorable puppy dog. But not…because I wanted to make out with his face. Merlin, that was cheesy.

"We never talk because you've never spoken to me before. That's all on you. And my summer was fine." Other than that last trip to Mungo's, it had been decent. Nothing eventful, there never was, but I couldn't complain. "What about you Black?"

"Now hold up. That was the most undescriptive explanation I have ever heard. Give me all the juicy gossip. Did you have a summer fling?" He raised his eyebrow at that, looking like it was the most scandalous idea, "Or perhaps you rebelled against your parents?"

I rolled my eyes, was he completely delusional? Did I seem the type to have a summer fling or rebel? "No, I spent my summer at the family's lake house. Absolutely nothing worth telling happened. It was fine, like I said."

"I don't believe you, but fine. And since you asked, I'll share. My summer was splendid. I spent it with James and his family, we travelled around North America. I tell you, that continent is incredibly different than Europe. Everyone's so grumpy and irritable there."

This caused a bit of a laugh to burst from my mouth, "Clearly you've never been to France then."

Sirius shrugged, brushing off my statement, "Speaking of James, you're best friends with Lily, right?"

"Yes, but how does that have anything to do with Lily?"

"Well, James would kill me if I let this opportunity go. I need to ask you a couple questions about Ms. Evans, if you don't mind." He had tilted his head slightly. Could he get any cuter?

"I'm not sure Lily would approve, but oh well. This will be payback for her ignoring me all week because of her ridiculous Head Girl duties. What would you like to know Black?" This could get very interesting very quickly. I had no idea where he was going with this.

"Alright Alice. Let's jump right to the point. Does Lily like James or not?" He leaned towards me, as if my answer could make or ruin his life.

Hell, this was a lot of pressure. I shouldn't be giving away any of Lily's feelings or secrets. That would be very unfriend like. But look at him, he was just too adorable. No! I couldn't do that to Lily.

"Sorry Sirius, that's confidential. If Potter wants to know so badly he should grow a pair and ask Lily out himself, you never know what she'll say. Besides, with them being Head Boy and Girl, I'm suspecting things to go down." I really wanted those two to end up together.

Just think about it… Lily and James Potter. You could write stories about them, it sounded so romantic. They could even have a cute couple name, not like their names could fit together in anyway. Lames sounded ridiculous.

"Seriously? Fine, I won't pry too much. But, I have to say I agree. I've been pushing James to make a move on Evans one of these days. Those two will end up together, mark my words. Even if I'm not the biggest fan of the relationship, it would make James happier than ever." Sirius confessed, leaning his head back against the wall.

"Why do you disapprove of them? Don't want some girl stealing away your secret lover?" I teased, raising my eyebrows suggestively.

What had come over me? Was I actually having a conversation with Sirius Black? And being witty during it? Madness I tell you! Madness!

"Ha!" Sirius exclaimed, "You're a bit amusing Fortescue. But no, I'm just worried Evans might do something to hurt James. He's a lot more sensitive than he looks, most people don't know that."

I couldn't help but watch Sirius as he explained his reasons. He looked so focused, and it was clear how much he cared for his friends.

The rest of the detention went by quickly, as Sirius and I discussed our love-hate relationship with our closest friends, how much we both hated Potions. The moment we heard footsteps, Sirius quickly muttered a cleaning spell, and the Owlery was suddenly spotless.

Filch deemed it acceptable (thought it was clearly a very difficult task for him to let us go), and Sirius and I walked back to the common room. Once there, we parted ways with just a small smile and a wave, Sirius promising to "talk to [me] later Fortescue."

I wanted to share my news with Lily, but of course, she wasn't there. When I asked Livia if she had seen her, she confirmed my beliefs that Lily was still out on whatever Head Girl duties she had at the moment. "Do you need to talk?" Livia asked me, her voice a bit concerned.

"No, it's fine Liv. But, I think I'm going to go for a walk. There's still an hour until curfew. I'll see you in a bit." With that I walked back through the common room and out to the grounds. I needed to go to the place I could always think clearly-the herbology sheds.

I loved being amongst the plants. They didn't talk back, or argue with me. They just sat there and listened, well, usually they did. Sometimes they liked to bite, but that had only happened once in second year. Nasty little bugger.

I let myself slide down against a wall, resting my head against one of the long counters. I wasn't entirely sure what plant I was sitting under, but I didn't need to worry unless I heard growling or felt any form of liquid drip onto me.

I sat there for a while. Just thinking. I thought about Sirius and how adorable he was, I thought about Lily and how I was starting to miss her, and I thought about the fact that my dizzy spells were getting worse now that I was back amid all the dust and strange aromas that were so common at Hogwarts.

It was really getting late by then. I should probably have left a while ago, but I had dozed off for a brief moment at one point. Slowly, I stood up and brushed my pants off before turning to-AH!

Bloody hell, who was standing by the door?

Right outside the door was another student, leaning nonchalantly against the shed and watching me as if it was the most ordinary thing to be doing. Was that… yes, it was Frank Longbottom. What the hell was he doing out here, and why was he watching me?

I walked towards the doorway and pressed against the door, stepping out into the cool fall air. "Can I help you?" I asked him, crossing my arms so I would appear at least slightly intimidating. It was difficult to do, considering he was probably almost a foot taller than me, and looked as if he never slept. He smelled odd, and it took me a second to realize he had a cigarette in his hand.

That was probably why he always had detention. Idiot.

Frank looked me over once before smirking slightly and placing the cigarette into his mouth, taking a long drag and letting out a puff of smoke. Oh that's disgusting.

I let out a loud cough, trying not to breathe in the filthy smoke. "That's a horrible habit, and would you mind not watching me? I'd prefer not to have my own personal stalker." I shot at him, covering my mouth so I could breathe easier.

"Alice. What are you doing out here?" Called out a familiar voice. I turned to see Lily standing just a couple meters away from me. "Let's go to the common room, it is freezing." She gave Frank a look of pure disgust before holding her hand out to me.

I walked to her quickly, linking my arm with hers. "Get going. Something about that boy sets me off." I whispered to her as we hurried off.

As Lily began to explain where she had been all day, giving me all the thrilling details of her duties, I snuck a glance back at Frank. He was still standing by the shed, with the same cigarette perched between his teeth. He caught my eye and sent me a quick wink before turning and walked off to who knows where.

"Alice, are you even listening to me? Gosh, it's like your mind and body are in two separate places." Lily complained.

I couldn't argue with her. That's what it felt like.


	3. Tussle's by the lake

***None of the characters in the following story are owned by myself. This world and characters all belong to the amazing mind of JK Rowling. I am merely turning these characters into my own little puppets, and using them as I please. Thank you to all who read the first two chapters, and too my one reader that reviewed the story. Any feedback is greatly appreciated whether it be reviews, comments or messages :) Sorry this chapter took so long, my wifi has been down for the last half of February. Enjoy!***

Within every group of friends, I find there are major pros and cons to being a part of that friend group.

In my particular group, sometimes-actually most times-I find that the cons outweigh the pros.

For example: While my friends were always oh so willing to listen to my daily woes, they couldn't help themselves when it came to giving me idiotic advice, or commenting on things that just _do not _need commenting on.

This happened just recently, when I was giving my little 'clique' the 411 on my detention with Sirius and seeing Frank watching me at the herbology sheds.

In response to my conversation with Sirius about our summers, Livia gave the advice that I should just "Hop right on. I'm sure he'd like you then." And when I mentioned that he had asked about Lily and James, Lily suggested that I tell him to, "Go shove a mandrake up his arse and mind his own business." Yes, 'lovely' was the correct word to describe her.

Finally, when I got to the part where I noticed Frank watching me, Livia's voice piped up again, "Maybe he was watching you because he knows you're friends with me." Was it just me? Or was her tone a bit…jealous?

"I mean, it's clear that I can get him. It'll be so easy. He's one of those dark, brooding types. All I have to do is give him some sob story that made me into the person I am today, and he'll fall all over me because I have a 'dark past'." That was Livia's logic.

I wouldn't tell her that there were many flaws in her plan. But hell, if she wanted to get into that creepy stalker's pants, so be it. Who was I to stop her?

I didn't even know the boy.

* * *

Fall had definitely arrived at Hogwarts. The days had begun to get shorter, and the trees were starting to change beautiful shades of red, yellow and orange.

It was my favorite time of year.

I loved throwing on a jumper and some jeans and being able to walk around outside, look at the beautiful scenery and just feel relaxed.

That _had been_ my plan for the evening. Sadly though, there was never a dull moment at this school.

It was Thursday evening, right after supper had finished, and Lily, Lottie and I thought it would be a good idea to go and sit by the lake. The lake was beautiful this time of year, especially close to sunset.

So, we all threw on our warmest jumpers and headed down to the lake.

Once there we sat, chatting and laughing about whatever came to mind, until we heard a couple footsteps and voice behind us.

We all turned to see none other than the notorious group of best friends. James, Peter, Remus, and…_sigh, _Sirius. He looked even better than he usually did, wearing a rather cozy looking leather jacket and his worn out jeans. He was always wearing those damned jeans. Was it weird that I knew that?

"Well look who it is! All our favorite people." James said with a smile, holding his arms out as if he was asking for a hug.

Lily smirked, it was clear that she liked the boy, I would have to double check with her where she was in that situation later. "Well look who it is! All our least favorite people, and Remus. We like Remus." She said, flashing Remus a kind smile.

That was true, Remus was the only one of their stupid gang that we actually talked to on a regular basis. He was always so kind, and seemed wise beyond his years. I always wondered if he had something going on in his life, he constantly looked worn out and stressed.

"Ouch." Sirius set a hand over his heart as if Lily had physically caused him harm. "That hurts Evans, you too Fortescue, I thought we were closer than that." He sent a wink my way. I tried my hardest not to blush but merlin it was difficult. I could almost feel the looks Livia was giving me behind my back.

"Sorry Black, Lily is our unofficial leader. What she says goes." I shrugged my shoulders as Lily let out a laugh, nodding along and agreeing that, yes, she was in fact our leader. We were just her little minions. It was because of the hair-red heads were meant to rule….or something like that.

"That's stupid." Peter barked out, "We don't have a leader, we're all equal. That's what makes us so much better than you."

I seriously hated that boy. Why was he so defensive over his stupid little clique? It was almost like he was terrified they might let him go unless he proved he was worthy of them. Makes sense, I would have gotten rid of him by now.

Lily's head whipped around as she glowered at Peter. "Equal? You're seriously think you're equal with those three?" She asked, her voice in between mocking and actual shock.

This could get bad. Lily wasn't always 'lovely Lily'. She was probably one of the feistiest people I had ever met, and had the worst temper if she was tempted.

I could tell from the three other boy's faces they were more than slightly confused as to why Lily was angry with Peter. Clearly he had not explained mine and his little encounter in the library and why exactly I had detention. Twat.

James stepped forward, like the true hero he was, "Hey hold up Lily, don't be so harsh on Peter. What has he ever done to you?"

He had used her first name. He hadn't called her Evans. This was a good sign. A very good sign indeed.

"Oh, did dearest Peter not explain to you exactly why such a good little girl like Alice got detention?" She hissed at James.

"Objection." I spoke up, raising my hand in the air. Lily knew not to call me 'little'. It made me feel incompetent, like I was some odd little weakling.

"Overruled." Livia and Lottie said in synchronization. They were so used to me objecting Lily's statements that their response was engraved into their memory.

Lily ignored our comments, too involved with her anger towards Peter to acknowledge us. "Peter blamed his childish prank on Alice, which I'm guessing is something you immature boys taught him. Am I right?" She turned her anger towards James for a moment before realizing she should be focusing on Peter instead.

Peter though, was not ready to be made a fool of in front of his friends. "Are you mentally ill? Or is sweet little Alice feeding you lies?" He spat back, his nose twitching slightly as his eyes darted between Lily and Sirius who was beside him.

I groaned and threw my arms up, giving up on the 'little' argument.

"Even if I did something to get detention and Alice got blamed, she could have easily explained to Madam Pince what had really happened. She's just too weak to argue. Isn't she? Too weak to argue, too weak to do anything. Honestly, it's like she's anorexic or something." He was clearly trying to change the subject matter away from himself, but I wasn't having any of that.

"Hey, watch your words Peter. I was nice to you once, don't think you can bully me like that." I called him out, getting up onto my feet so I didn't feel so vulnerable anymore.

"Oh look at that, the little mouse speaks." He snickered, though it was obvious from the look he was giving his friends that he wasn't sure whether he was going to get in trouble or not.

"Better a mouse than a rat." I muttered under my breath, causing James and Sirius to burst into a fit of snickers. I didn't understand what was comical, I was being completely honest…. Boys were weird.

"Don't call me a rat." Peter hissed out, his fists curling up as he took a step towards me. He knew he had been humiliated by Lily, and now myself. I was aware that Peter got into fights regularly. Well, he started fights, but never actually participated in them. He was too much of a coward to stand up and defend himself. He depended on others for that.

"Then don't call me anorexic." I spat back, stepping back towards Lily. She was my fiery redhead. Lily wouldn't let Peter insult me like this.

"Peter, leave Alice alone. She did nothing wrong." Remus spoke up, always seeming to be the most reasonable of the group.

Peter, however, had something else in mind. He wanted to show how tough he could truly be, and that he let no one humiliate him. He took two more steps towards me, "Look at how weak she is." He said with a weak laugh. What happened next happened rather quickly. Peter pushed his arms out, making contact with my shoulders and causing me to fall back. I hadn't had enough warning to actually stop myself, it had been too much of a surprise.

My head hit the rocky ground by the look, and I could tell by Livia's mortified shriek that there was blood. That girl couldn't even stand the sight of a paper cut.

"You complete asshole, what the hell did you do that for?!" I heard Lottie yell.

Everything seemed to be spinning from the impact of the rocks, but I could make out that Lottie and Lily were being held back by what seemed to be James and Sirius, while Livia was already puking into the lake. Poor Giant Squid, I hope he didn't blame Livia's weak stomach.

Remus knelt down by my side, placing his hand over the wound on my head. "Sirius, mind taking Alice to the hospital wing? Madam Pomfrey will easily be able to heal this right up."

Sirius let go of Lottie's arm for a second, letting her get loose and pounce on top of Peter. Remus quickly ran to get a hold of Lottie, seeing as she was quite close to using some type of curse that would get her into serious trouble.

Sirius helped me to my feet like the gentleman he was, and draped my arm over his shoulder to support me. "I got this one. Don't let those two kill Peter." He called out to James and Remus, who were too preoccupied to answer.

"Don't worry, we'll have a very serious talk with Peter later." He whispered to me as we shuffled off towards the school.

"And by serious talk you mean you'll plan some sort of nasty prank to teach him a lesson?" I said with a weak laugh.

Sirius let out a soft chuckle and that, nodding his head lightly.

We had almost reached the doors when I got the sense that someone was watching us. I turned my head around, and sure enough, there was Longbottom leaning against the building, watching me intently.

"Why is he always watching me?" I muttered out loud, thinking I had said it in my head.

Sirius turned to look in the direction I was, "Who? Oh…Frank?" He whispered back, not caring that we looked rather obvious. "He doesn't talk much. I've spoken to him a few times, seeing as he is in the same year, but even in the dorm he keeps to himself. Quite the ladies' man that one."

"Ha! You're one to talk." I said with a fake laugh, mocking Sirius, though my eyes never left Frank. I expected him to simply nod, or do nothing, so what he did do surprised me.

"Need any help over there?" He called out to us, causing both Sirius and I to stop.

Sirius looked between Frank and me, but I couldn't read the expression on his face. Maybe it was jealousy. Yes, that was it. Sirius was simply jealous that another handsome male was speaking to me, especially when I was in such a damsel in distress situation. How sweet.

"Sure." Sirius said with a shrug.

Darn.

There goes the whole 'jealous' concept.

Frank sauntered over to us, smirking down at me once he reached us. He was so much taller than me it was almost laughable. The top of my head just barely reached his chin. "You're bleeding." He pointed out, tapping the side of my head gently.

I narrowed my eyes at him. Who did he think he was to be able to touch me? The nerve of some people!

"I'm guessing the hospital wing is our destination?" He said with a slight drawl, as if he didn't care where we were going or when we got there. He honestly seemed to not have a care in the world, but the dark circles under his eyes said otherwise.

"Yes sir. Can you take her other side? She's walking a bit lopsided right now." Sirius commented, looking up at the sky as he waited.

Frank looped my arm over his shoulder, and we that we set off in silence. Not another word was uttered until we reached the hospital wing, finally.

"Well, thanks you two. I can handle it from here." I assured them both, resting my hand on the door.

Frank shrugged his shoulders and turned to leave, but not before tapping the side of my head once again, "Might want to be more careful next time." He said quietly, and with one last smirk he was gone down the corridor.

That boy was odd. I got a weird feeling from him.

"I'll stay with you." Said Sirius as we both turned towards the door. "Nothing else to do at the time anyways. James and Remus can wait for me." His tone was fairly cocky, which was reasonable. He had so many reasons to be a bit full of himself. I didn't blame him.

I wasn't going to protest. If Sirius offered to stay by me, I wouldn't decline his offer. It was delightful to be near him.

Madam Pomfrey looked up as she heard us walk through the doors. "Oh Alice! What's the matter?" She asked, rushing over to me.

Pomfrey and I were on a first name basis. Well…she called me by my first name. I wasn't quite allowed to call her by hers. But still, we were buds.

"Alice hit her head on some rocks by the lake, it was bleeding pretty badly." Sirius explained as they both led me to the nearest bed. Honestly, I was fine walking on my own, but Sirius had his arm around my waist, so again I wasn't going to complain. It was so warm. Sigh.

"Oh dear, I thought your condition had acted up again." Pomfrey said absentmindedly as she hurried off to grab some medicine to soothe my tremendous headache and some gauze to stop the bleeding.

Sirius turned to look at me, his head tilted to the side, "Condition? What condition?"

Aw shit, that wasn't supposed to happen. I didn't want people knowing there was something wrong with me. They would see me as this weak little girl, and I hated feeling inferior. I didn't want anyone to pity me.

"It's nothing. I'm just a bit sick. That's all." I played it off, waving his question away, but he wouldn't have it.

"Come on Fortescue. Tell me what's wrong." His tone was stern, and I could tell he wouldn't take no for an answer. Stubborn git.

"I'm just sick, always have been, always will be. I'm not going to die so it doesn't matter much. Please just drop it." I begged, trying to use my best puppy dog face.

Sirius frowned, clearly not enjoying my response, but he did drop it. But not after promising that he would eventually find out what was wrong with me.

I didn't doubt him.

Pomfrey came back, gave me some medicine and warned me to try and be more careful, and that I couldn't afford having anymore health problems. Sirius sent me a confused look again, but I just ignored him. Everyone had their secrets, I should be allowed to have some as well.

As we were walking back to the common room Sirius turned to me, "Hey Alice, want to go out to eat sometime? We could drag along Lily and James, try and get those two together?" He asked, smiling like a mischievous two year old.

My heart skipped a beat. He wanted to go out to eat…with me? Was this like…a date? Oh gosh. What if it was? Just stay calm Alice. You can do this.

"Yeah! That would be great. When?" I asked, putting on my nicest smile.

"How about tomorrow? Lunch at the Three Broomsticks?"

I nodded enthusiastically. "Sure! I'll tell Lily, she won't refuse me." I promised.

With one last smile and nod, Sirius turned on his heels and sauntered up to his dorm.

I let out a small squeal and ran up to my dorm.

I had a potential date with Sirius freaking Black. Thank you Peter Pettigrew for pushing me into that damn rock and causing this all to play out.

I flopped back onto my bed with the biggest smile on my face. Today had been a crazy day.

Wait-what was I going to wear?


End file.
